Participating in the Five State Beef Initiative
Kentucky is one of several states in the E. Corn belt participating in the Five State Beef Initiative. This effort is providing a testing ground for farmers who produce beef products with the attributes increasing being asked for by consumers.
Consumers are changing what they want in their food products. For beef, there is still the desire for quality, measured in terms of taste and tenderness. However, food safety has now been added to the list of expectations. (BQA)
In addition, market research shows that consumers are increasingly concerned about how their food is produced. They are demanding high levels of environmental stewardship as well as humane standards in producing and handling animals.
The FSBI is a partnership of producer organizations (like the KCA and KFBF), LGUs, state Depts of Ag. in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Together we can put the entire system together, with feeders coming primarily from the southern part of the region and the rest of the production and processing done in the partner states.
The project has two primary farmer objectives:
First, to help participating farmers profitably deliver the product expected by increasingly discriminating consumers; and at the same time, to develop a set of production standards which meet consumers' expectations and while being reasonable for cattle producers.
Here is how the program operates:
An interested farmer or group of farmers contacts the county Extension agent who links them with the Project. The farmer must be able to identify the calf's mother cow and use the approved health program (CPH - 45). The farmer must also be certified in Beef Quality Assurance, environmental stewardship and trained in humane handling standards. Finally, the cattle must be sold in a group which can be tracked from the farm of origin through processing.
In return, the farmer gets focused help. Project funds are used to share the costs involved. Since the cattle are "source verified," with electronic ID tags, we can get information about the quality of the beef and use that information to help farmers get premium prices.
Last year over 2,300 cattle were tracked through this system. This year we have over 5,000 cattle from more than 200 Kentucky producers.
The bottom line is that we are using the Five State project to help Ky cattle producers deliver the products consumers want, but in ways that farmers can live while generating profits for their families and communities.
For More Information
For additional information, please contact, Lee Meyer.